Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Clayton.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Samantha. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m a former olympic athlete for the British Olympic team and moved to the USA 20 years ago. I studied Chemistry at the University of Wolverhampton in the U.K but decided that a career in the fitness industry was a perfect fit for me. I love how through exercise and movement people can improve their overall sense of wellbeing, improve their body composition and most importantly improve their overall level of confidence.
As a personal trainer early in my career, I enjoyed helping people accomplish specific sports, fitness and body composition goals. I spent several years as a Track coach and exercise instructor at Pepperdine University in Malibu and I believe that this was an important time of growth in my career. Being surrounded by an incredibly nurturing coaching staff and being responsible for students athletic and emotional growth at the start of their adult journey living away from home, was a privilege and honor. It taught me so much on what it truly means to be a coach and mentor. The role of a trainer often goes beyond the physical.
I expanded my presence in the fitness industry through on camera work and helped to lead a program for Lionsgate films on a 90 day youtube project and then transitioned to my current position at Herbalife Nutrition. I’m the Vice President of Sports Performance of fitness and have visited more than 63 countries teaching exercise and healthy lifestyle principals to our network of independent distributors and employees around the world.
I’m passionate about sharing my joy of fitness with people of all ages and ability levels, I Volunteer my time for a number of charity organizations, at fitness conference events and have spent time in Washington DC promoting the importance of living an active lifestyle. I love to move people, it is my job, my passion and my purpose combined.
The secret to my success in life and in the fitness arena is being dedicated to living a ‘Purpose driven’ life. I have a God-given purpose in my life and that is to help people take care of their body, to help them understand and fall in love with the benefits that physical activity provides.
Finally, Attitude is everything, I was raised by a single parent in government housing but I was taught that with hard work, dedication and sacrifice anything is possible. My sister is also an olympian so I know that formula from my mom is a winning one. I’m raising my kids with the same set of principals and it’s exciting to see them realizing that to be good at anything it takes a lot of hard work. I returned to University last year and am a few classes away from finishing a new degree program in fitness and wellness business management. I’m truly blessed to have found a career that fits in with who I am and what I believe in.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There have been many struggles on my journey, raising a family while pursuing a dynamic professional career path comes with a lot of emotional turmoil and sacrifices. Time management is always difficult and balancing it all has taken a lot of patience and learning not just for me but for my family too.
My athlete journey was filled with wins and losses, so many good days but also bad days with lost races missed opportunities and all of the disappointment that comes along with striving for success. Each tough moment was a great learning opportunity and taught me to “dust off todays disappointments while in pursuit of tomorrows dreams”.
Even Starting a family came with intense challenges for me. I had to have IVF followed by surgeries that affected my health and my ability to exercise, but the hard journey resulted in me having four beautiful humans to raise, so the struggle was worth it. Exercise has always been my medicine to heal my mind and body.
The greatest emotional challenge came from the recent Malibu fires when my family and I lost our home and twenty years with of memorabilia, photos, we lost it all. Our family motto of “attitude is everything” had to be put into full steam ahead practice in order to reduce the trauma of it all for the kids. It worked and we are slowly figuring it all out.
Obstacles and challenges are a reality for everyone, even when success looks perfect, the road to success behind the scenes is sweaty.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I’m responsible for all fitness related strategy and operations at Herbalife Nutrition, a publicly traded (NYSE: HLF), global nutrition and supplement company that direct sells its products through independent distributors. I Provide executive leadership over the Herbalife Sports Performance Program and have overall responsibility for official fitness training and fitness education for our independent Herbalife distributors throughout the US and 93 other countries around the world.
I have designed, developed and launched an online platform for the company allowing easy search, retrieval and use of all online video-based targeted fitness content for distributors and customers. I really enjoy conducting in person on-stage, educational speeches and fitness training events for crowds that range widely in size, but regularly top 10,000 around the world. In essence, I’m known mostly for being a company Ambassador to the diverse sports and fitness communities, representing and promoting the Herbalife Nutrition brand and our fitness philosophy where ever I travel and online.
I’m most proud of working for a company that is dedicated to quality and equally dedicated to helping people improve their lives. Promoting a balanced nutrition message in combination with encouraging people to meet daily exercise goals is a fantastic healthy message that I am proud to share.
Our company is made special because of our incredible distributors, they are the difference that makes us unique. Our distributors are passionate about helping people to achieve their goals and knowing that I work at the corporate office with the sole purpose of helping them to excel in the field is so rewarding. I’ve had the opportunity to be part of peoples weight loss and sports performance journeys as a motivator and mentor and that makes me proud to wear my company logo.
What were you like growing up?
I’ve always been outgoing and friendly, my natural state is to be a people pleaser, as a kid my purpose in life was to make my mom proud and happy. I was a nerdy A student with big ideas, big dreams and a big smile. My key love language is acts of service, so I’m sure that my three sisters would describe me as a busy body type of kid, always wanting to be in on the action, help out and take over to do things for them. (I’m still that person). My mom would say that I was a rule follower and often nervous about failure. The fear of failure was a worry for me as a kid.
My interests has always been in sports, I ran track, played soccer, cricket, rugby, field hockey and captained every team. When you can run fast as a kid you can dominate at most sports. My nerdy side lives in the science field, I loved science as a kid and still do today. I watched all the National Geographic shows studied pharmaceutical science and chemistry in my late teens and just wanted to do well at something so I could travel and enjoy a good life.
I was a happy go lucky girl.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.herbalifenutritionfitness.com
- Instagram: @samanthaclaytonfitness
- Other: www.herbalifenutrition.com
Image Credit:
Herbalife Nutrition
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